A revamped Microsoft Delve looks like a corporate mashup of Facebook and LinkedIn

Mark Hachman |
April 16, 2015

Delve has leaped beyond curating documents to curating everything about you and your job. There's even a blog and mobile apps.

A few months ago, we thought of Microsoft's new Office 365 app, Delve, as a tool to curate all your necessary business documents in one place. With Tuesday's update, it's looking more like corporate-sponsored mashup of Facebook and LinkedIn--with likely the same self-editing effect that friending your parents on Facebook would inspire.

On Tuesday, Microsoft added a new profile page for you to publicly declare your contact information, projects, whom you report to and who reports to you, your interests--and yes, even a personal blog. Delve is the first Office 365 app to receive what Microsoft calls a "authoring canvas," a Sway-like tool that allows you to embed documents, videos, and images in a section designed to allow you to express yourself.

Microsoft also added two new mobile apps, one each for iOS and Android. There's no Delve app for Windows Phones--although Microsoft promises that's coming soon.

Why this matters: Delve was originally designed to use machine-learning techniques to connect the relevant documents, conversations and people around you. That's still in place, according to a Microsoft spokesman. This new dimension to Delve seems like it will appeal to those Tracy Flick types who obsessively curate a sparkling, flawless online profile--but now, that profile will face toward one's work colleagues. Note that the profile page also has a section for "Praise," allowing one to show off every award you've won, every contract you've signed--forever. If the Delve profile page were public-facing, I'd be tempted to call it a shot across LinkedIn's bow. It's not, however.

Nurture your network

Also note that Delve is only as good as the people who use it. Case in point: IDG uses Office 365, but an early attempt to nurture conversations on Yammer failed miserably. Each group and even publication had already settled on their own collaboration solution. One of two things needs to happen for Delve's profile pages to become a hit: Either HR must be able to auto-populate them with your information, or the corporate culture must encourage its use. Otherwise, your Delve profile could be a wasteland.

With that said, Microsoft wants you to use Delve to connect with your colleagues. "A company's most important assets are its people--YOU," Mark Kashman, a senior product manager on the Office 365 team, wrote in a blog post. "The knowledge and experience of you and your colleagues collectively brings great value to your company. And as you communicate and work out loud together within Office 365, the value of your work can be surfaced and discovered by others in Delve."

The new profile pages will be accessible by searching directly through Delve, or else by clicking the person's name in OneDrive for Business or the Outlook Web App. The profile page showcases a number of different fields, from your experience and skills to where you fit inside the organization.